CHAITEN, Chile, Feb 26 (Reuters)
- Hostel owner Rita Gutierrez Vargas would rather run the risk of being
incinerated by another volcanic eruption than leave the Chilean town where
she has spent her entire life.

Her mud-caked, ash-smothered town of
Chaiten deep in Chile's southern Patagonia region was devastated after
a spectacular eruption last year, and is still at risk as the nearby volcano
of the same name continues to belch a vast column of ash and gas.

There is no running water, no electricity,
most of Chaiten is a ghost town and there are …

SANTIAGO, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Chile
says it has found a new home for the 7,000 residents of Chaiten, the town
in the verdant South that turned white with ash last year after a volcano
dormant for thousands of years exploded back to life.

The Chaiten volcano, which erupted spectacularly
in 2008, spewed a vast cloud of ash again last week, sending gas and molten
rock into skies above the town six miles (10 km) from its crater, forcing
the evacuation of many residents too stubborn to leave a year ago.

SANTIAGO, Feb 20, 2009 (AFP) - Chilean
authorities Friday tried to force 46 people to evacuate a southern town
near the Chaiten volcano that has rumbled into activity and threatens to
devastate the area with pyroclastic flows.

"The government's not going to allow
people to burn themselves up or commit collective suicide," Justice
Ministry spokesman Francisco Vidal told reporters.

Chaiten volcano erupted in May 2008 forcing
the evacuation of all 4,000 inhabitants of Chaiten town, 10 kilometers
(six miles) from the mountain.

This note is compiled for The Risk Emergency
Disaster Working Group for Latin America and the Caribbean (REDLAC) by
the OCHA Regional Office through disaster monitoring and input from our
Regional Humanitarian partners. This note does not intend to be an analytical
tool, but a summary paper of key facts and actions reported by sources.
Activities carried in affected countries are not limited to the ones reported
here. Please check with sources for further information.